eLivermore.com contains a community calendar for the Tri-Valley area.
They include community events, performances, shows, and other activities.
Also shown are the sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset for each day. Each
item links to a description with times and locations, as well as links to the
sponsor. Select the month below.

The rainy season is from October through May, with most of the
rain in the winter
months of December through March. Rain in the summer is very rare.
The area gets about 14.5 inches of rain per year. Because of this rainfall
pattern, the hills surrounding the valley are green in the winter, and turn
golden brown in the summer.

High temperatures in the winter are generally in the 50s or
60s. There are generally more sunny days than rainy days, even in the
winter months. Bike riding and hiking are common winter events.

In the summer the highs are in the 80s and 90s, but it can
easily get over 100. It is much warmer in the summer in the Tri-Valley
than near the bay. It is not unusual for there to be over a 30 degree
difference between the high temperatures of the Tri-Valley and San Francisco.

See our Weather Page for detailed
rainfall information, both for this year, and historical.

The Tri-Valley cities can be found in the Thomas Guide
Metropolitan Bay Area map book, and also in the Thomas Guide Alameda County book. The
County version includes the more rural areas, such as Lake Del Valle, that are not
included in the Bay Area version. These books can be obtained at a variety of
stores, including Costco in Livermore. The Thomas Guide page and grid
number are often quoted by Real Estate and other listing. The bay area and
county versions are consistent in their numbering scheme, so you can use either.

Local stores also have a variety of folding street maps of the
city for sale.

Downtown parking is generally pretty easy in both Livermore
and Pleasanton. Both have parking on their main streets. You can
generally find a parking spot within a block of the downtown areas unless there
is a special event going on.

For Community Calendars,
Weather, Parking, Hotels, Wireless Hotspots, Demographics, and General
Information, see the General Information
section above

The town of Livermore was founded in 1869, making it the
oldest city in the valley. It boasts numerous wineries, same over 100
years old. It is the eastern most city of the Tri-Valley bordering on the
Altamont Pass.

Livermore is a great place for hiking, bicycling, and horse back riding.
Sycamore Grove Park and
Del Valle are excellent for all three.
There are also bike paths through Livermore. The
Isabel trail runs several miles along
Isabel Ave. The Arroyo Mocho trail
runs through town, roughly along the Arroyo Mocho (creek), going through
Robertson Park. Click the link at the left for a list of parks and
trails for hiking, bicycling, and horse back riding.

The History Center is located in the Carnegie Building on 3rd St,
between J and K. The building and the surrounding park occupy the
entire block. The history center contains displays and information on
Livermore's past. A member of the Livermore Heritage Guild will be
there to serve you. The building also contains an art co-op, operating
the same hours. This web site contains an extensive set of historical
photos from the Livermore Heritage Guild collection.
Click here to view

Walking Tour

The History Center has guides for walking tours of both the historic
business and residential areas.

First installed in 1901, it is the oldest known working light bulb.
It is at the East Ave Fire station, 4550 East Ave. Featured in the
Guinness book of world records, Ripley's Believe it or not, and On the Road
with Charles Kurault.

Thousands of windmills of various designs dot the Altamont Pass, taking
advantage of the windy conditions to generate power. The Altamont Pass
is one of the premier wind farms in the nation. They can be seen up
close from
I-580 through the Altamont Pass, or from Altamont Pass Road.

A great park for hiking, bicycling, and horse back riding. Both
paved and unpaved trails. A back area will get you to over 1000 feet
(over 500 feet above Livermore) for a great view of the valley. This
park was originally the Olivina Winery. The ruins of the winery are
still visible.

The Del Valle Reservoir provides swimming, boating, wind surfing,
hiking, horse back riding, and bicycling. It is south east of town off
of Mines Road. For more of a challenge you can enter from the Arroyo
Road side on foot, bicycle, or horse. This is where the dam is
located. There is a parking lot by the entrance, and a trail that
takes you around to the recreation area, but it is several miles and quite
hilly from that end. You are rewarded with a great view, from about
the 1000 foot level.

The Livermore Valley is home to about 26 wineries. Most are in
Livermore, with a few in the surrounding areas. Most of the wineries
have tasting room hours on weekends. See the wineries
page for
details and links. The annual harvest festival on the Sunday and Monday of Labor
Day weekend is always a popular event.

Featuring a display of science and technology. Enter from
Greenville Road. The Lawrence Livermore Lab is one of the biggest
employers in the area.

Downtown Sites

Livermore has a historic downtown. The main section is on 1st St
starting a L St, crossing Livermore Ave, and continuing a few blocks.
The following are a few of the sites. More information and additional
sites can be found in the Walking Tour pamphlet from the History Center.

The downtown is currently under extensive redevelopment.

Flagpole. The new flagpole
was installed June 17, 2005. It replaced the 99 year old wooden one
which consisted of a single log. The original was installed in 1905,
moved 15 feet in 1959, and removed October 7, 2004 due to structural
concerns. The flagpole is prominently displayed at the corner of 1st
and Livermore Ave.

Bank of Italy Building. Corner of 1st & Livermore. Now home to
the Independent Newspaper, this building was originally a bank, and later
became city hall.

The Masonic Hall was
built in 1909, and is located on the south west corner of 1st & Livermore.
The ground floor has been used by various businesses including banks and
currently a comic book store.

The Schenone Building opened in June of 1914. The center portion was the entrance to the theatre, which was built
directly behind it. The tickets were purchased at the front of the Schenone building, then a hallway led back to the theatre, the screen being at
the wall at 2nd St.

The IOOF Building was
built in around 1874, making it probably the oldest building downtown.
Like many of the halls, the downstairs was leased to businesses with the
meeting hall upstairs.

The Carnegie Building was built
in 1911. It was used as the Library until 1966. It currently
houses the History Center and Art Co-op.

Independence Hall
was built in 1882. It was the Bank of Livermore
from about 1883 to 1890. It was the Livermore City Hall from 1905 to 1957,
at which time city hall moved to the Bank of Italy Building. It was a fire
station from 1906 to 1976, and housed the Centennial Light Bulb until 1976.
It was also the Livermore Police station from 1906 to 1974, with the jail in
back. Now used by various businesses.

SP Railroad Station.
Built around 1892 along the Transcontinental Railroad Tracks. The tracks no
longer go by the station, having been moved to the right of way of the WP
tracks to the north. It now houses several businesses.

The farmer's market attracts a number of vendors with fresh produce, and
other items. You can also buy freshly made kettle corn, and barbeque.
It is located at the Carnegie Building, at J and 3rd. The History
Center is open late when the farmers market is open.

The Livermore Library made national and international news in 2004 when
it was discovered that the mural in front of the library contained 11
misspelled names, including Michelangelo (spelled Michaelangelo) and
Einstein (spelled Eistein).

A verse of Don McLean's song American Pie is attributed to the
Altamont concert. A free concert put on by The Rolling Stones, it is
known for the violence that occurred, and is often referred to as the day
the 60's died. The concert took place on December 6, 1969 (about 4
months after Woodstock) at the
Altamont Raceway in the Altamont Hills east of Livermore.
More Details.

Wine has been made in the Livermore valley for over 150 years.
There are over 20 wineries in the Livermore Valley today. The Harvest
Wine Festival is held each year on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day
weekend.

60 minute movie which premiered in February 2002 about Livermore.
With the missing time capsule and the totem pole as the central themes, the
movie goes through various aspects of Livermore's history. The VHS and
DVD is available online.

Lost Time capsule

Livermore made the national news when a time capsule that was buried in
1974 could not be found in 1999. A variety of metal detectors were
used, and could not located it. It turned out that it was very close
to the totem pole base, located from an old memo. Livermore the Movie
(see above) chronicles this event.

The Transcontinental railroad came through the Altamont Pass, Livermore,
Pleasanton, and Niles Canyon. The tracks were about a block south of
where the current tracks are through the downtown area. The railroad
station, built in 1892, is still present on L Street just south of Livermore
Ave. See our Railroads section
for details.

Jack London

Jack London lived in Livermore on a farm on what is now Altair Ave (Between Concannon Blvd & Alden Lane) at the age of 9, in 1885. He moved to
Oakland in 1886.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a U.S. Department of
Energy national laboratory. LLNL
was founded in September 1952 as a second nuclear weapons design laboratory
to promote innovation in the design of our nation's nuclear stockpile
through creative science and engineering. Livermore has also become one of
the world's premier scientific centers, where cutting-edge science and
engineering in the interest of national security is used to break new ground
in other areas of national importance, including energy, biomedicine, and
environmental science.

Thousands of windmills of various designs dot the Altamont Pass, taking
advantage of the windy conditions to generate power. The Altamont Pass
is one of the premier wind farms in the nation. They can be seen from
I-580 through the Altamont Pass, or from Altamont Pass Road.

Chowchilla Kidnapping

On July 15, 1976 three men kidnapped 26 children and the bus driver in
Chowchilla, California. They were hidden in a moving van that was
buried in a quarry just west of Isabel Ave in Livermore. The quarry
was owned by the father of one of the kidnappers. After about 16 hours
in the buried moving van, they managed to escape. The three kidnappers
were sentenced to life in prison.